Genesis 9:18-11:9

New International Version

The Sons of Noah

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth.^(A) (Ham was the father of Canaan.)^{(B) 19} These were the three sons of Noah,^(C) and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.^(D)

²⁰ Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded^[a] to plant a vineyard. ²¹ When he drank some of its wine,^(E) he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked^(F) and told his two brothers outside. ²³ But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.^(N)

The Table of Nations

10 This is the account^(O) of Shem, Ham and Japheth,^(P) Noah’s sons,^(Q) who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites^(R)

The Hamites^(AD)

⁸ Cush was the father^[e] of Nimrod,^(AM) who became a mighty warrior on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty^(AN) hunter^(AO) before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon,^(AP) Uruk,^(AQ) Akkad and Kalneh,^(AR) in^[f] Shinar.^{[g](AS) 11} From that land he went to Assyria,^(AT) where he built Nineveh,^(AU) Rehoboth Ir,^[h] Calah ¹² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Later the Canaanite^(BH) clans scattered ¹⁹ and the borders of Canaan^(BI) reached from Sidon^(BJ) toward Gerar^(BK) as far as Gaza,^(BL) and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim,^(BM) as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites^(BN)

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was^[j] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.^(BO)

³⁰ The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

³² These are the clans of Noah’s sons,^(BY) according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth^(BZ) after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language^(CA) and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward,^[n] they found a plain in Shinar^[o](CB) and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks^(CC) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,^(CD) and tar^(CE) for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,^(CF) so that we may make a name^(CG) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered^(CH) over the face of the whole earth.”^(CI)

⁵ But the Lord came down^(CJ) to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language^(CK) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us^(CL) go down^(CM) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”^(CN)

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,^(CO) and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel^[p](CP)—because there the Lord confused the language^(CQ) of the whole world.^(CR) From there the Lord scattered^(CS) them over the face of the whole earth.